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Hmmm. So the emphasis is moving towards trades and unions are failing. Seems like a lot of people flocking to trades without the option of unions will result in lower pay in the future.

Just like anything else, it's where you work. There are cheap bosses, and fair bosses. Start with any job possible to learn, then chase the money. Will the wages fall? They have for a decade plus, which is why so many left in the first place and everyone is complaining of a skilled trades shortage. Highly skilled tradesmen though don't work for cheap, and can still earn very good money. What I like about the trades... Your paid based on how well you can get the job done. Wage trends are meaningless if your the guy who is a step above the rest.

I started working in a locksmith shop almost 20 years ago. For the past 14 I have worked as an institutional locksmith for a 2 hospital, 12 clinic healthcare organization. I am now in management for the facilities department of the hospital but still have an active role within the physical security end of things. I have been invited to classes for other locksmiths and have assisted in those classes in teaching others how to design a facilities security system. Over the years coworkers have asked for assistance at their homes or to open a car that they have locked the keys in, and medical offices in the area that have needed my services. I finally built a business around that. My clients are medical offices, business offices, and homes. I don't work on cars as I choose not to. I would rather maintain a facilities security system and hardware. I learned a long time ago that I have knowledge that others are willing to pay for.

I started working in a locksmith shop almost 20 years ago. For the past 14 I have worked as an institutional locksmith for a 2 hospital, 12 clinic healthcare organization. I am now in management for the facilities department of the hospital but still have an active role within the physical security end of things. I have been invited to classes for other locksmiths and have assisted in those classes in teaching others how to design a facilities security system. Over the years coworkers have asked for assistance at their homes or to open a car that they have locked the keys in, and medical offices in the area that have needed my services. I finally built a business around that. My clients are medical offices, business offices, and homes. I don't work on cars as I choose not to. I would rather maintain a facilities security system and hardware. I learned a long time ago that I have knowledge that others are willing to pay for.

Good stuff.

I was looking into buying a small locksmith business from someone in Vegas. It was owned and operated buy one person. Been around for almost 10 years. The guy also offered 3 weeks of training to whoever purchased the business. I'm still doing the research but this might be an avenue that I may pursue.

I started working in a locksmith shop almost 20 years ago. For the past 14 I have worked as an institutional locksmith for a 2 hospital, 12 clinic healthcare organization. I am now in management for the facilities department of the hospital but still have an active role within the physical security end of things. I have been invited to classes for other locksmiths and have assisted in those classes in teaching others how to design a facilities security system. Over the years coworkers have asked for assistance at their homes or to open a car that they have locked the keys in, and medical offices in the area that have needed my services. I finally built a business around that. My clients are medical offices, business offices, and homes. I don't work on cars as I choose not to. I would rather maintain a facilities security system and hardware. I learned a long time ago that I have knowledge that others are willing to pay for.

I started working in a locksmith shop. The owner taught me how to cut keys on the machines that we had. I spent time in the shop learning how to rekey locks, install locks, learned how to pick open locks, remove and repair locks on cars and trucks. Over time I started riding around with the other locksmiths and learning what they did. As I learned more I would be sent out to do simple jobs and it grew from there. I would attend classes that the distributors had. Usually every year Clark Security products hosts a large week long event at the Disneyland Hotel. They have classes all week. In addition most manufactures have training for their products as well. The Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) is another great resource. They have a couple magazines with articles on how to progress in the industry and sell books on how to learn things. After a while you can test out of categories that ALOA has set up to show your proficiency within the trade with Certified Master Locksmith being the highest rating within the general locksmithing trade. At that point you may decide to go another route. I for one went on to become a locksmith for a large facility. Others choose to start their own business operations something that I have also done this year. Others decide to learn about safe's. Safe and Vault Technition Association (SAVTA) is the trade organization for those that decide to specialize in safe opening and servicing.

One of the most indemand jobs now and moving into the future is turbine mecahnics--the ones that work on the big windmills. Right now there are way too few of them, and not a whole lot of people in school to learn how to fix them.

What school should one look into to learn more about that sort of thing?

Just like anything else, it's where you work. There are cheap bosses, and fair bosses. Start with any job possible to learn, then chase the money. Will the wages fall? They have for a decade plus, which is why so many left in the first place and everyone is complaining of a skilled trades shortage. Highly skilled tradesmen though don't work for cheap, and can still earn very good money. What I like about the trades... Your paid based on how well you can get the job done. Wage trends are meaningless if your the guy who is a step above the rest.

Maintaining that tempo is exhausting though and its like running across a colapsing bridge, just because you have not fell off yet does not mean you feel any better about thing. You know what engines do when they are constantly red lined right. Even though these "step above the rests" are high performers they are going to get burned out.

Maintaining that tempo is exhausting though and its like running across a colapsing bridge, just because you have not fell off yet does not mean you feel any better about thing. You know what engines do when they are constantly red lined right. Even though these "step above the rests" are high performers they are going to get burned out.

Absolutely. My boss said something to me a month ago that really made me think. He said, "my life was a lot more simple when I didn't make good money and I didn't have that much money". Those who chase the money often find, after a period of time, it's just not worth it anymore. My goal... Make the good money for a decade and save most of it... Then take a survivable wage job till retirement. When your making good money, you have a tendency to live the part. Well, when you get sick of the workload, it's hard to go back and take a drop in your standard of living. As for my boss... He was working for one of the most expensive job shops in the area not to long ago. Their programmers average over 100K a year, and they have one of the most solid apprenticeship programs in the Midwest. He left that place because he said he was "sick of the B.S.". Basically, he did what I plan to do... Rake in the money until it's not worth it anymore.

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